Mayors Jewelers

Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall was quiet on Wednesday despite the many changes already taking place within what has always been Sarasota’s premier mall.

With just a little more than a week left before the brand new $315 million Mall at University Town Center opens at University Parkway and Interstate 75 on Oct. 16, retailers at Southgate Mall are closing or preparing to close as they transition to the new center. Meanwhile a few other brands, like Brookstone and SRV Calendar & Gifts, are opening in some national chain’s former spaces.

Saks Fifth Avenue closed its resort-style 40,000-square-foot store inside Southgate Mall today. It originally opened in Southgate in 1996. No special sales were offered on Wednesday despite the move. Racks were full and nothing seemed out of place either. Employees confirmed that all merchandise from the Southgate Mall location will be moved to the new 80,000-square-foot two-store store at the Mall at UTC Wednesday evening and through the rest of the week.

The brand new Saks store will feature an expanded women’s shoe boutique, 10022-SHOE; an enhanced men’s section; and an exclusive in-house restaurant called Sophies, among other features.

Meanwhile at Dillard’s, the department store was nearly bare. Several sections had no merchandise at all and empty shelves and naked mannequins stood in tight groups in different corners of the store. More merchandise is still coming in, employees said, but all signs point to the store closing. Dillard’s is offering sales of 40 to 65 percent off merchandise in all departments.

It is unclear at this time when Dillard’s will close in Southgate Mall.

Earlier this week, Benderson Development closed on a $10 million deal for the 97,000-square-foot store. No new tenant for the space has been announced. Dillard’s will have a 180,000-square-foot, two-story anchoring space inside the new Mall at UTC. The majority of the Southgate Mall’s staff will move with it.

The mall aisle was quiet and few shoppers browsed the retailers on Wednesday around midday. Mayors Jewelers’ space was shuttered and empty.A sign on the glass doors encouraged shoppers to visit the store inside the new mall.The store closed on Oct. 4.

Williams-Sonoma, too, had closed. In its place was a sign that read: “Coming soon, SRV Calendar & Games.”

Southgate’s Gap store was still open on Wednesday, but a banner across the store’s glass walls read “We’re moving to the Mall at University Town Center. Come visit our new store.”

The former Restoration Hardware space had a sign on it that read: “Opening soon, Brookstone.” Last year, Toys R Us set up a pop-up shop inside the space for the holidays. Restoration Hardware left the mall in September 2011 and the space has sat vacant ever since — despite being next to two of Southgate’s highest-performing tenants.

Brookstone is a national retail chain that sells electronics and other lifestyle items like speakers, alarm clocks, massage chairs, blankets and pillows. The company has stores in most of the major malls in the Tampa Bay area, but this will be the first to open in Southwest Florida.

To see a full list of retailers coming to the Mall at University Town Center, click here.

The Herald-Tribune reported stores like Tommy Bahama, Brooks Brothers and others will open in the Mall at University Town Center last year. The 880,000-square-foot retail center will open October 16.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.